Sole: The suede-bottomed sole is incredibly light and flexible - basically: not made for hiking - and should not be worn on the street.

Heel: 7/8” heel

Footbed: Cloth covered foam

Construction: These are constructed in a “distressed” fashion. Entirely handmade with raw edges, woven fabric, heavy stitching, etc. These are not dress shoes - the workmanship is done in a casual style by design.

Weight: Feather-light. These are absolutely minimalist (on purpose). The light weight and low heel gives you incredible agility on the dance floor - perfect for dancers of all skill levels.

NOTE: We also carry these in women's sizes. Perfect for couples who wear matching outfits, for costuming a dance team, or backup dancers in a stage production.

Item #: 665-BH

SPECS:

The heel is almost 7/8” so it looks like an ordinary shoe, but because the shock-absorbing sole is 1/2” your heel is only a little higher than the rest of your foot - which really helps your stability.

When you wear these you'll feel like a cat - nimble, surefooted, ready to spring into action - but with the slide- and spin-ability that suede soles give you. They look close enough to a dress shoe to wear with slacks, but act like an athletic sneaker.

ABOUT ARIS ALLEN SWING DANCE SHOES:

Aris Allen is known for making vintage style swing dance shoes and reproduction models that are more authentic equipment for dancing swing than ordinary ballroom shoes or sneakers will ever be. Their philosophy being that your dancing will look more authentic if you wear the same style of shoes the inventors of the dance were wearing. At the very least they feel you should be wearing something comfortable because swing dancing is like running track :)

SIZING TIPS:

(Our returns show we are right about 90% of the time)

Lace-Up Oxfords make great dance shoes because you can tighten them to perfectly fit your feet.

We've found - by trying these on countless dancers - it is best to wear your usual size for a good fit.

If you're in between two sizes, you may want to go with the smaller of the two sizes you usually wear. 25% of our test dancers (who had narrow or average width feet) chose the smaller of the two sizes they said they normally fit.

Because these can be laced to be tighter or wider across your foot our test dancers with average or narrow feet were very happy with the fit - only a few have reported that they felt narrow.

Our test dancers report that the uppers will stretch a little to conform to your foot.

ABOUT SUEDE SOLES:

These are made with suede on the bottom that has been sewn onto the sole and heel to prevent you from having to deal with the upkeep that suede usually requires.

NOTE: Usually we say that suede soles for swing dancers are meant to be worn outside so they get dirty and wet so you can dance faster when they dry to a mirror-like finish. But these are so light that they are almost like slippers - you'll only want to wear them on the dance floor.

If you prefer them less zippy you can dull the “mirror finish” on the bottom by periodically roughing them up with a wire brush.